It's snakes and ladders! Boro's yo-yo season has hit a downward slide again. A new streak of sloppy defending threatens to derail Boro's cup express.

Three defeats in a week, with seven goals conceded, smacks of problems at the back.

Just when Boro were on the verge of achieving the level of consistency they were striving for, they have slipped off the ladder again.

This latest reverse at Ewood Park was instantly avoidable, but Boro made it easy for Blackburn, especially once Rovers had gone down to ten men.

Steve McClaren made seven changes and, again, the manager's selection was not the root cause of the problem.

Boro had enough quality on the pitch to have won the game and they would have won it if they had tamed livewire Craig Bellamy.

Maybe Boro were too free and easy in a surprisingly open first half.

They had the better chances, but still trailed at the interval as the result of a clinical Bellamy strike and a bit of cheating from Morten Gamst Pedersen, who moved a right-sided goal-line free kick several yards away from the line, and promptly kicked it into Boro's net.

If referee Chris Foy had insisted on Pedersen taking the kick from its rightful spot, then Boro would have been looking at a point.

But Mr Foy had a personal nightmare and, anyway, Boro never looked settled at any time.

It was no surprise to see McClaren scrap the 4-5-1 formation at the interval in the search for a more effective system.

The manager switched to wing-backs, with Emanuel Pogatetz coming on as a third central defender alongside Ugo Ehiogu and Franck Queudrue, and Yakubu accompanying first half scorer Mark Viduka up front.

Yakubu might have had a penalty inside three minutes when knocked over inside the box by Zurab Khizanishvili, but Mr Foy would have none of it.

The referee was, however, the only man in the stadium who felt that Robbie Savage should be dismissed for two bookable offences within three minutes.

The ref's decision may have been a bad one, but it was a stroke of luck for Boro, who suddenly began to play with a bit of determination.

They poured forward and deservedly equalised when man of the match James Morrison set up his second goal, this time for Fabio Rochemback.

With Rovers reeling, Boro then went gung-ho for a third goal.

For six minutes there was only one possible winner - but then Boro shot themselves in both feet when Blackburn scored again.

Pogatetz was caught well out of position as Bellamy got away on the right and the Welsh striker closed in on goal before hammering home a stunning shot across Mark Schwarzer.

The strike handed Rovers fresh self-belief and took the stuffing out of Boro. In fact Boro fell away completely and never again looked capable of getting back into the game.

It was a second successive away defeat which could easily have been avoided, and confirms the fact that Boro are still not out of the woods in the Premiership survival battle.

There were a few plus points, though Morrison's super showing - he made two goals and went close to scoring two - suggests that the teenager can again be a major player in the run-in.

Viduka kept going and was a thorn for Blackburn, though Yakubu did not impress in his 45-minute run-out.

Rochemback probably needs a few more games, while George Boateng was not at his best and the wholesale changes at half-time reflected the midfield problems.

But there were bigger problems at the back and McClaren will be given plenty of food for thought as he studies the video footage this week.

Key moments>

7min:> Andrew Davies makes a telling challenge on Morten Gamst Pedersen as the Norwegian breaks through the middle.

11min:> Craig Bellamy cuts in from the right, going past Chris Riggott, before firing a low drive into the left hand corner.

16min:> James Morrison prods the ball forward for Mark Viduka, who advances into the box before beating Brad Friedel with the pace of his shot.

18min:> Viduka gets in a close range header from a Fabio Rochemback corner but Friedel makes a superb reflex save.

28min:> Franck Queudrue fouls Bellamy on the right hand goal-line. Pedersen runs over to take the free-kick but moves the ball several yards away from the goal-line and closer to the box, without any complaints from the referee or his assistant. Pedersen then shoots into the net.

48min:> Yakubu is barged over by Zurab Khizanishvili as he runs into the box. No penalty says the referee.

54min:> A clearance from George Boateng hits Robbie Savage on the hand and Savage is yellow carded by the referee and then red carded. Savage had been booked two minutes earlier for a foul on Boateng.

63min:> Davies releases Morrison down the right and the teenager takes the ball to the goal-line before laying it back for Rochemback to slam home a low drive.

68min:> Friedel makes a mess of trying to clear a mis-timed clearance from Ryan Nelsen which goes high in the air, but Morrison fires the loose ball over the bar.

69min:> The Boro defence is caught napping as Pedersen releases Bellamy on the right and the Welsh striker races in on goal before hammering an unstoppable shot across Mark Schwarzer and into the net.

What the managers said>

Steve McClaren: "From the first whistle to the last we defended very poorly. When they went down to ten men and we grabbed the equaliser, that gave us an opportunity, but the quality of our football was simply not good enough."

Mark Hughes: "Craig Bellamy is at the top of his form right now. You could see that by his work ethic and his goals. He has given us that quality we didn't have last season because this is a game we would have lost a year ago."

What the papers said>

The Times: "Robbie Savage's sending off initially galvanised Middlesbrough to draw level through Fabio Rochemback's drilled shot, but their day ended tepidly when the outstanding Craig Bellamy fired into the corner, adding to a neat turn and earlier strike."

The Sun: "A bitterly cold and half-empty Ewood must have seemed a million miles away from Rome's Olympic Stadium to the few Boro players to have played in both games as Blackburn edged a spendid game when Bellamy curled a vicious effort into the corner."

Daily Star: "Steve McClaren's verdict on a Boro side showing seven changes from their Roma conquest three days earlier was harsh. He was scathing about the performance but the visitors played their part in a thrilling game with youngster James Morrison looking an outstanding prospect."